How to Cleanse Your Body Through Fasting

HOW TO CLEANSE YOUR BODY

Most people take baths and showers to keep the outside of their bodies clean, but do very little to keep the inside of their bodies clean. (Which is even more important.)

Even if you are following the cleanest diet and lifestyle, you will still be getting toxins in your body due to the fact that there is so much pollution in the world. But fortunately, there is a way to remove some of the toxins that have built up in your body, and it's called "cleansing".

There are a lot of different ways to cleanse the body, but the one that I feel is the most natural and most effective is "fasting".

FASTING

When you go on a fast, you are giving your body a break from eating, and since so much of our daily energy goes to digesting the foods that we eat, you will naturally have a lot more energy than normal during a fast, and your body will use that energy to work on problems that have been slowly building up over time.

Our bodies have the "potential" to heal themselves of many different things, but if the inside of your body has become a highly toxic environment where disease can easily manifest and thrive due to years of unhealthy eating, fasting may be the best way to give your body a chance to truly work its magic.

The best analogy that I can use to describe fasting, is to image that a grocery store closed for a week, but all of the employees still showed up to work as usual. (Which might sound crazy, because without customers the store would go out of business. But if there were no customers for a week, a lot of things could get done that there normally isn't time for.)

While the store is closed, all of the walls could be re-painted, all of the shelves could be re-arranged, all of the old electrical wiring could be taken out and replaced with faster and more energy efficient wiring which would save the store a lot of time and money each year, and once the week was over, it could look and feel like a brand-new store on the inside, and they could have a big "Grand Re-Opening".

The same thing happens on the inside of your body when you go on a fast. If there is no food to deal with, your body won't simply take it easy and do nothing, but will instead focus on the things that it normally doesn't have enough time for due to the fact that there is constantly new food entering the body that needs to be digested, assimilated, and eliminated.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FASTING

1. WATER FASTING

A "Water Fast" is when you only consume water for an extended period of time.

This is the most powerful form of fasting, but if you are new to fasting, I would encourage you to try one of the following milder forms of fasting first...

2. JUICE FASTING

A "Juice Fast" is when you only consume the juices from fruits and vegetables for an extended period of time.

I like to refer to fruit and vegetable juices as "Liquid Plumber" for the body, because they are powerful internal cleansers.

"Juice Fasting" is a lot easier than "Water Fasting", because even though you aren't "eating" anything, you will still be consuming an enormous amount of vitamins and minerals, and you will probably be consuming even more nutrition during a "Juice Fast" than you would if you were eating solid foods.

I recommend that you make all of your juices at home with a juice machine instead of buying bottled juices from grocery stores, because store-bought juices are usually pasteurized and can contain a lot of unhealthy and even toxic ingredients. (Which kind of defeats the purpose of doing a "detox".)

If you need some motivation before you go on a juice fast, I highly recommend that you watch the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" which is free on YouTube.

3. INTERMITTENT FASTING

An "Intermittent Fast" is when you still eat, but you only eat within a short window of time during the day. (Like if you only eat between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, and then for the next 16 hours you fast.)

We all know that "what" we eat is very important, but "when" we eat is also very important.

I know from experience that if I eat shortly before I go to sleep, I won't sleep as well as I will if I go to sleep on an empty stomach, and I also know from experience that if I eat shortly after I wake up, I won't feel as energized as I will if I start my day with a walk on an empty stomach.

6 SIGNS THAT YOU ARE TOXIC AND SHOULD FAST

Our bodies are in a constant state of "de-toxing" and "re-toxing", and they are designed to be able to handle a fair amount of toxins.

But if you are smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, or drinking a case of beer every night, or eating unhealthy foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you are likely taking in toxins a lot faster than they can be eliminated, and if this continues, it will only be a matter of time until the toxic build-up results in a serious health problem such as lung cancer, liver cancer, or heart disease.

Below are 6 signs that your body is in a state of toxic overload...

1. YOUR URINE

If the inside of your body is toxic, your urine will be dark yellow and have a strong odor to it.

Whether you are consuming too many toxins, or you simply aren't consuming enough water to dilute them, going on a fast from food and making sure that you are drinking plenty of water is a great way to rehydrate and flush out some toxins.

The Ultimate Goal - Be so well hydrated that your urine is almost as clear and odorless as the water you drink.

2. YOUR STOOL

What do newborn babies and healthy adults have in common? Pretty much any time they eat a meal they have a bowel movement.

(1 meal in = 1 meal out)

Having a bowel movement should be as easy and effortless as blinking an eye, but some people are so constipated that they will actually keep books in their bathroom because of how long and laborious it is for them to have one.

If you eat a clean diet and your digestion is working optimally, the foods that enter your body will exit your body before they have a chance to rot and putrefy. But if you eat an unhealthy diet and your digestion is slow and sluggish, the foods that you eat will start to rot when they are still inside of you. (Which means that they will smell rotten when they finally leave the body.)

The Ultimate Goal - Have effortless and odorless bowl movements after pretty much every meal.

3. YOUR BODY ODOR

If the inside of your body is toxic, you will have strong body odor, and if the inside of your body is clean, you will not have any noticeable body odor. (It really is that simple.)

The Ultimate Goal - Never need or use deodorant again.

4. YOUR MOOD

If the inside of your body is toxic, it will almost certainly show in your mood, and once you have really cleaned up your diet and done some cleansing, you will start to notice that you simply don't get as irritated over things as you used to.

The Ultimate Goal - Have a friendly aura.

5. YOUR SKIN

Your outer skin is a reflection of your inner health, and if eating certain foods causes you to develop acne and other skin problems, then you already know which foods you should fast from (or better yet eliminate completely) if you wish to have clearer skin and avoid similar outbreaks in the future.

Your skin also has millions of pores (which is clear evidence that you were designed to sweat) and of the most powerful ways to detox is through sweating.

When was the last time you were completely covered in sweat? If it has been so long that you can't even remember, then I recommend that you start sweating on a daily basis either through daily exercise or by taking daily saunas, and to then replace the sweat that you lose each day with clean water.

The Ultimate Goal - Have clear and glowing skin that people compliment you about.

6. YOUR HEALTH

Anyone who has ever had a pet, or who raises farm animals, or who works as a veterinarian, knows that animals will stop eating if they get sick.

We naturally lose our appetites when we get sick, and the reason for this is that our body is being attacked by a virus and is trying to fight it off before it can spread and take over the rest of the body, so the last thing that it needs at a time like that is to have to take energy away from defending itself just so it can digest a meal that it didn't even ask for.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have been conditioned to believe that they should ignore the natural instinct to stop eating when they are sick, and that if they don't eat something when they're sick their body will be too weak to fight off the sickness.

If you are too afraid to stop eating when you are sick, I would encourage you to at least eat clean and eat light, because if you eat over-eat or you eat something that you know full well is unhealthy when you are sick, you will be feeding the sickness far more than you will be feeding your body!

The Ultimate Goal - Never get sick again.

WARNING

There is a good chance that if you go on a fast you will experience what is known as a "Healing Crisis". (Which is when there are so many toxins being released through your body that you develop "sickness-like symptoms".)

Your body has 7 organs that are designed to eliminate toxins (colon, kidneys, lungs, liver, blood, lymphatic system, and skin) and when massive amounts of toxins are being eliminated from the body, these 7 organs are going to be working a lot harder than normal, which can result in the following symptoms...

- You have to use the bathroom a lot more than normal.

- You feel tired and want to stay in bed.

- You feel dizzy upon standing up.

- You start to lose weight.

- You have bad breath and body odor.

- You develop skin eruptions such as rashes, acne, and itching.

- You feel irritable and experience intense mood swings.

- You feel old injuries start to flare up and hurt again.

- You develop a temporary white coating on your tongue.

- You feel cold in your hands and feet.

- You develop flu-like symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, and fever.

These symptoms may give you the impression that something is wrong, but it is usually a sign that your body is "cleaning house", and once the detox has passed, the symptoms will pass as well.

Because we all come from different backgrounds, everyone's detox is going to be different (some will be mild, while others will be more intense) and as great as fasting can be, there are certain people who shouldn't fast.

People who shouldn't fast include babies, women who are pregnant, people who are on medications which need to be taken with food, people who are suffering from nutritional deficiencies, and people who simply don't have a good reason to do a fast at this point in their life or who simply couldn't safely endure a strong detox.

6 TIPS FOR FASTING

1. FAST FROM MORE THAN JUST FOOD

Not only will you not get as much out of a fast if you spend it watching television or surfing the internet, but you will likely be getting exposed to a lot of images of food or mentions of food. (Which can make being on a fast feel a lot more difficult.)

And not only can it be unsafe to go to work or work-out while you are in a deep fast and going through an intense detox, but it will also mean that a lot of physical and mental energy that could go towards healing will have to be spent on other things instead.

So for maximum healing, try to spend your fast resting, and try to avoid any media distractions about what is happening in the outside world so that you can truly focus on what is happening inside of you.

2. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Although you can technically fast anywhere in the world, if you try to fast at home and you live with people who will be cooking food that you can smell, or who will be eating around you, or who don't understand fasting and will be trying to pressure you to eat something, it will be similar to a recovering alcoholic going into a bar with the intentions of just drinking water.

I have done many fasts over the years, and my best fasting experience was when I fasted in "Costa Rica" because I had warm weather, clean air, beautiful natural scenery, and supportive people around me who were experienced with fasting and were there to help me.

So please go out of your way to find a location to fast where you will have all of the comfort and support that you need to have the biggest and best rest that you've ever had!

3. PREPARE MENTALLY FOR THE HUNGER

We have all been conditioned to eat when we're happy, eat when we're sad, eat when we're being entertained, eat when we're board, eat when we're with loved ones, eat when we feel lonely, etc. And because we've basically been conditioned to eat as an emotional reflex to anything that we experience in life, it makes the idea of fasting seem a lot more challenging than it really is.

Back when I younger, I actually used to say (and believe) that I was "starving" if I had to eat lunch an hour or two later than normal, but now if I were to find myself in a situation where I was going to have to go an entire week without eating, I would simply look at it as a "fast" and enjoy it rather than suffer.

If you want to do a "Water Fast", something very important that you should know ahead of time is that if you consume nothing but water for 3 days in a row, your body will turn to stored bodyfat as a source of nourishment. We are naturally designed to keep a small amount of bodyfat on us in case of a food shortage, and once your fat reserves start getting consumed, your body will be getting enough nourishment from it that it will stop producing feelings of hunger.

Any time that I've ever done a "Water Fast", I felt hungry for the first few days (although not nearly as hungry as you might expect) and then around day 3 any feelings of hunger completely went away, and I find that it is actually an incredibly liberating feeling to no longer crave or think about food.

But in order to reach the point in a "Water Fast" where you no longer feel hungry, you must refrain from eating or drinking ANYTHING except for plane water for about 3 days, because even a small snack or even a glass of water that has some kind of an added sweetener in it will "break the fast" and can result in your hunger getting stronger rather than vanishing.

And although everyone has a limited supply of body fat, even people who would be classified as "thin" will typically have enough body fat on them that they could actually go on a fast for almost a month before they truly started to "starve", and a person who is "overweight" could of course go even longer.

In fact, in 1965 an overweight man named "Angus Barbieri" stopped eating for over a year, and during that time he only consumed water and some nutritional supplements, and not only did he survive, but he lost 275 pounds / 125 kilos / 17 stones!)

I want to stress that I'm not in any way recommending that anyone attempt to do something like that, but I'm just trying to demonstrate that going on a short fast from food can be very safe.

And on a personal note, I wish that everyone would experience a week long "Water Fast" at least once in their life, because if there was ever a major food shortage in a major city like "New York" and the shortage was expected to last for a week, before that week was over, a lot of people would probably turn crazy and might even cannibal due to actually believing that they were going to starve to death.

4. TRUST YOUR BODY

Keep in mind that you go on a fast, you and your body might have totally different agendas.

You may be hoping for external results that you can easily see every time that you look in the mirror (like looking thinner, looking younger, or having clearer looking skin) while your body may be far more concerned with fixing internal problems that are far more serious and that you aren't even fully aware of.

So during your fast, try to let go of superficial expectations, and trust that your body will work on the things that are truly the most urgent.

5. NO CONTEST!

Do not go on a fast if your motivation to do it is so you can tell people that you fasted for ____ days, or that you lost ____ pounds.

6. END THE FAST CAREFULLY

- Make sure that you end your fast gently

The reason that the first meal of the day is called "breakfast" is because while you are sleeping, you are technically "fasting", and therefore, the first meal that you eat will "break the fast".

But for fasts that last a lot longer than overnight, you need to be mindful about how you "break the fast".

During a fast, your stomach will shrink, and your metabolism will slow down, so it's important that you reintroduce food to your body slowly.

The first meal that you eat after a long fast should be a small (and preferably juicy fruit like watermelon) and each meal after that should get a little bit bigger until you can comfortably eat a normal size meal.

- Make sure that you chew your food well

Keep in mind that digestion begins in the mouth when the foods that you eat gets broken down with your teeth and coated with saliva that contains digestive enzymes, so make it a point to start chewing your food better.

- Make sure that you eat healthier than you used to

The benefits of fasting will be very short lived if once your fast is over you go right back to the way that made you feel the need to go on a fast in the first place, so even if fasting can give you the gift of a new and improved body, it is ultimately up to you to keep it that way by taking good care of it.

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